2004

27th Dec 2004
HALF-BLOOD PRINCE IS APPROACHING...
...in 200 days.



Can't wait the next summer. Can't wait the line party. Can't wait the Book. And I love this waiting, I really do.

In other news, Christmas came and Christmas went. I had fun.
My Christmas briefly: family, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter in general, The Polar Express, Alias, gingerbread with missing heads, rice porridge and almonds, The Snowman, Muppets, delicious food, too much of it, Santa & three female elves, The Secret Window, staying awake late, piano & violins, Everwood, Lilo & Stitch, Aladdin, Creating the Lord of the Rings Symphony, RotK EE, Minas Tirith, Trivial Pursuit, U2, Britney, Shania, Bridget Jones, text messages, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate and chocolate.

That's pretty much it. <3

Time: 5:08pm
Weather: Partly cloudy, -7.4°C
Now playing: U2 - Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own

21st Dec 2004
CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY
I slept for 3 hours last night. Why? Because just when I was intenting to go to sleep J.K. Rowling decided to give us her Christmas present. The announcement that the sixth Harry Potter book was completed and handed over the publisher. And now we've got the release date for it. 16th July 2005. I'm so going to love the months from now on. The hype is here again.

I'm leaving to Ylöjärvi for Christmas tomorrow, and I'll be back on 26th December. And since I've got a lot of things to do this evening, I'm finishing this post now.
Happy Christmas! :D
I know my Christmas will be happy. It already is.

Time: 10:20pm
Weather: Starry sky, -9.2°C
Now playing: Frank Sinatra - Jingle Bells

16th Dec 2004
ONE WEEK
Yeah, one week left to Christmas. Hmm, why does December seem to run so fast when you're older? It used to be much longer years ago.

Updated the December Photoshoot with two photos taken today. I had my hair cut and colour added yesterday. I went for black/orange combination this time, and I'm quite satisfied with the result. But next time something else. :)

Time: 11:24pm
Weather: Cloudy, -1.9°C
Now playing: Kelly Clarkson - Because of You

5th Dec 2004
"ONCE, DOCE, TRECE, CATORCE!"
This site needed an update on layout, again. A bit of Christmas spirit.

The Photoshoot section can be found under "Photos", but sorry, there's no December Photoshoot yet. But it will get there, soon, I hope.

Hmm, this is a bit unusual. It's 5th December, and I've already done most of the Christmas shopping. Very weird of me. I usually leave them to the last days, or so.

I made a list of movies I'm definitely going to see in 2005.

Time: 6:34pm
Weather: Cloudy and foggy, +1.3°C
Now playing: U2 - Vertigo

20th Nov 2004
TODAY'S NUMBER: 21
So, it's my 21st birthday today. Happy birthday to me. :P
Cousins are here and we're gonna celebrate my special day by playing music and seeing The Incredibles and just having fun, as always. :D

I don't feel any older. That's a good thing. That's the best thing, the main thing of all.

Time: 1:22am
Weather: Partly cloudy, -7.9°C
Now playing: Melanie C - Closer

17th Nov 2004
ANASTACIA & NOVEMBER PHOTOSHOOT
Anastacia is coming to do a concert in Finland in March 2005, at last. :D The tickets went on sale yesterday, and I bought them right away. The whole concert was sold out just in few hours.

There were about 15 people before me in the line, and I was too late to get tickets for the lower seats, so I had to buy tickets for seats upstairs. But it's okay, they're in the first row. :D
And luckily I bought them in Lahti, it would have been madness in Helsinki with too much people wanting to buy the best seats.

I'm going to see her with my sister and cousins. :)

I'm not sure, if it was a clever idea to take the photos for this month's Photoshoot out in the balcony. It's pretty chilly out there. My toes froze. And I'm already a bit sick, but I think I'll manage.

Time: 10:46am
Weather: Clear & sunny, -5.9°C
Now playing: Geri Halliwell - Bag It Up

13th Nov 2004
NOVEMBER UPDATE
Okay, first of all, I'm sorry I haven't updated this site since the beginning of October. But now I will. And come December, I bet there's a new layout by then. The November Photoshoot is coming in a week. After I've had my hair cut... And before I turn 21, which happens on next Saturday.

So, what have I been doing? Working, mostly.
I like, I really do, the non-military job I'm doing as a receptionist. I'm usually working the evening shift (1pm-9pm), so it's not that burn-out-causing, as it's quite quiet there.
My main job is to keep watch by the information desk and I'm trying to do my best on answering the hard questions I get from students and lecturers or via phone. Not everything is quite clear for me yet. But time will make it better and easier.
I'm also to do some general stuff there, like serving the people in many ways. I make copies, book reservations, fix (or at least, try) the machines and do some computer stuff. And before I leave the building in the evening, I make a tour and check every classroom and switch off the lights and lock the doors and other things like that.

As I already said, I like the job. I've been doing it for 5 weeks, and the time has really flown. I'm happy. :)

Now to other things.
I bought Christina Aguilera's new live DVD on Wednesday evening and watched it on that night. I watched it again the other night. It's a wonderful show, really. I love her. She's so God damn talented. I got several cold shivers running down my spine while the concert. The forever beautiful "The Voice Within", the rockier version of "Genie in a Bottle", the acoustic version of "Come on Over", her costume in "Walk Away", Christina sitting on the deck of a black grand piano and singing "Impossible", the whole performance of Etta James cover "At Last", the totally mind-blowing high notes of "What a Girl Wants" and the acappella kick-off of "Beautiful". Aaaw, I want to see it again now!

I went to Finnish Bookshop yesterday intenting to buy "Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket. Well, they only had the book in Finnish, so I ordered it in English. Should arrive to the shop in 2 or 3 weeks. :) It was much cheaper than I thought.. only 13.70€.
I bought the book because I saw the trailer of a movie called Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and I soon learned the movie is adapted from a book, or a series of books. I was recommended to read the books before seeing the film, so I will do that. The books sound fascinating. :)

Hmm, what else? Well, Kwan's new album was released a bit over week ago, and I bought it on that day. The album is fantastic. Buy it.
Last week I found out that Anastacia is starting another tour and this time she's giving a concert in Finland in March 2005. Guess, who will be buying tickets on next Tuesday morning. :D

Tonight I saw Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, which was visually very beautiful, and the plot was, despite the clichés they used for fingers-are-not-enough much, cool. The whole movie was cool. :)
And when I'm on the subject now, I saw one of this year's surprising movies a few weeks ago. Collateral was marvelous. The plot was given justice by how the film was made. The ways of shooting, the music, actor work, everything. It was beautiful, and I enjoyed every bit of it. And I definitely liked that the whole movie took place from sunset to sunrise. It had some Lost in Translation-ish touch and feeling in it.
Tom Cruise looked weird and old, though. But it suited the film, and him.

Another surprise was the movie Populäärimusiikkia Vittulajänkältä. It was very different than I thought, and it really took me into it. Normally I prefer not to watch Finnish movies (well, this was Finnish/Swedish anyway), but this time this movie was recommended to me by somebody, whose opinions I trust, so I had to see it. And I'm glad I did. Definitely would like to see it again.

This entry is going to grow very long, unless I finish it soon. Now.
But before I go, I must say that I love my new panorama posters I bought earlier today. Paris & London and New York. Hmm, I think I should build a photo tour of my room someday. I just have to clean this place first... :P
Though, I could give a sneak peek to my room. :)

I'm feeling fine and I love it. Good night!

Time: 9:59pm
Weather: Starry sky, -0.9°C
Now playing: Kwan - Dreaming of...

7th Oct 2004
UPDATE ON CIVILIAN SERVICE
The past 10 days have been a bit confusing, but I'm starting my non-military service tomorrow - at last.

I had 6 months time to find the place of service, and for the major time the whole thing seemed pretty hopeless. During the very last days the sun started shining as Riihimäki District Hospital responded to my application. I got the job, but the accomodation was still uncertain.

Right on the next day, however, I got another respond. This time it was from an old people's house in Hämeenkyrö. I had a job interview with them on last Friday and I got that place, too. So I decided to move to Hämeenkyrö. I spent the weekend planning on my moving, and we even filled our trailer with stuff I'm gonna take with me. I was to move out on Tuesday, but again, plans changed.

On Monday I was approached by Lahti Polytechnic, and they wanted to interview me for the job. I postponed my moving by two days and went to the interview yesterday. I, again, got the job. So now I'm not moving to anywhere, as the said Polytechnic is situated about 1 kilometre from where I live.

Tomorrow then, at 9.30am, I'm starting my non-military service as a receptionist in Lahti Polytechnic: Faculty of Social and Health Care.

Time: 8:37am
Weather: Cloudy & misty, +7.1°C
Now playing: Diana Krall - Love Me Like a Man

24th Sep 2004
MELANIE C'S THIRD COMING
The Talented Spice Melanie C's second solo album, "Reason", didn't sell very well. But I don't care, for she's still in business. Her third album is to be released soon (in 2005, most likely). She left Virgin Records, which was good, and works on her own now under Red Girl Records, which is hers by the way.

I've already heard 7 of her new songs, though all of them have been live recordings, but nevertheless... They are fantastic! She keeps going rockier all the time. And I mean not like she did with songs such as "Goin' Down", "Go!" and "Let's Love", but these are a bit more classier rock. If you know what I mean.

I'm pretty sure all of these songs I've heard will not be included in her third album. Some of them might end up as b-sides, but that's fine with me. That means more new material on the album. :)
"Beautiful Intentions" and the ballad "Better Alone" are definitely going to be on the album, I dare say that. They are my favourites. Hmm, the latter one sounds a bit like a Robbie Williams song...

Wanna hear them? Well, download as mp3 files here:
Beautiful Intentions & Better Alone, all credits go to Marc!

Time: 4:21pm
Weather: Cloudy, +12.4°C
Now playing: Melanie C - Better Alone (live in Islington, London)

22nd Sep 2004
MAIL, SERVICE AND FUTURE
I decided to get rid of my Hotmail account, for it's reaching its storage limit, which isn't much. And there are times when it doesn't even work. I still use it (mainly for some incoming mail), but henceforth I send e-mail only from my Gmail account, which is juvenis@gmail.com.

My civilian service continues from 4th October on. That's pretty soon. And I still haven't got the job. To be honest, I've asked from about 30 places, and this far only one was interested. But eventually they didn't take me. I'm running out of possible places and time. There's no places in Lahti, except this one, which came to me as a miracle two days ago.

Yeah, why not to seek for the place outside Lahti? Well, the problem is that most of the places won't pay for my accomodation. They want a worker who lives nearby, so they don't need to care of that.

I never knew finding a civilian service job could be this hard. I've searched for it for 9 months now. I've already used the 30 days of my period of service in the Lapinjärvi Training Centre, and in less than two weeks time I continue my service, whether I've got the job or not. If not, I am to go back to Lapinjärvi and work in the training centre. And to tell the truth, that doesn't sound fascinating to me. Not at all.

But one thing is sure. I am a free man in October 2005. Civilian service is over by then, that's definite. So what should I do after that? I don't know.
I'm already planning to visit London in November 2005, just for three days. And come spring 2006, I'm going to apply for schools. No idea of them yet, though. I guess I could apply for The Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory. We'll see what future brings...

Time: 1:22pm
Weather: Cloudy, +11.4°C
Now playing: Alicia Keys - Never Felt This Way

10th Sep 2004
I THINK IT'S FRIDAY
Suddenly a terrible urge to write and update something came to me. But what to write? That's the problem here. Hmm, maybe just some nonsense (or not).

I watched Something's Gotta Give, which I bought today and I still love it. If you ever need a smile, watch this film. It's full of smiling faces. Can't get enough of them. :)

I also started to watch Magnolia some moments ago, but somewhy lost my concentration on it, and decided to watch it some other time. After all, it's over 3 hours long and I'm quite tired. And I still haven't found its soundtrack. Maybe I should order it online some day.

Hmm, what else? Nah, nothing I could write here now. Apparently this turned out to be a movie-oriented post. Well, I like movies. :)

Oh, and on tomorrow evening I'm going to see The Village. I hope it's good.

Time: 10:23pm
Weather: Starry sky, +12.4°C
Now playing: Savage Garden - I Want You

4th Sep 2004
CAN OGRES BE CUTE?
Yes, they can. I'm of course talking about Shrek and Fiona here. I saw Shrek 2 tonight and I can definitely rank it to be one of the best movies of the year. It was way better than the first one. I think this sequel had more humour and details. Also, music was a bit better, not that I didn't like the music in Shrek, for I did. Jennifer Saunders as Fairy Godmother was amazing. Her voice, I mean.

The satirical touch it has is just so brilliant. I love how all the fairy tales are mixed into one film, and they all have their own twists. Genious.
And the humour itself is damn hilarious.

Shrek films are very beautifully constructed. The textures are superbly genuine. Water looks like real water. And I was impressed especially by the woods in Shrek 2. Very good job.

Enough talking now. I'm tired, there'll probably be a green monster in my dreams.

Go see it! I will - again.

Time: 11:58pm
Weather: Starry sky, +11.5°C
Now playing: Jennifer Saunders - Holding Out for a Hero (Shrek 2 OST)

3rd Sep 2004
AUTUMN UPDATE
I changed the layout again and removed the page containing links to here and there. I also added a couple of new features, such as "Photoshoot" and a foreword.
I'm pleased with the new layout.

So, what else has been happening lately? Hmm. Well, I passed the final exam of the English course I was attending in the Open University of Helsinki. So that is over now.

No civilian service place found yet. I'm running out of time soon. But optimistic as I am, I think it'll work out. Somehow.

I saw Garfield yesterday for the second time. This time it was dubbed into Finnish, so it had a different twist. I prefered the original version with Bill Murray as the voice of fat cat G.
And on tomorrow evening I'm going to see Shrek 2. I was surprised to see that they show the original version of it here in Lahti. They never do that!

Autumn is approaching. I like that.

Time: 4:57pm
Weather: Partly clouded, +21.5°C
Now playing: Shakira - Que Me Quedes Tú

19th Aug 2004
JAZZ ON THE SQUARE
Lahden Jazztori was held (and is still being held) for the 16th time. I was there for the first time in my life yesterday.

There were two performers last night. The first one was How Many Sisters & Kirmo Lintinen Trio. Their show was very enjoyable and they were so talented that I now have their CD.
After the Sisters' 1½ hours lasting performance Lahti Big Band took the stage. I'm not quite sure, if it was just me being really tired, but their swing didn't charm me. At least not as much as the show by Sisters.

But overall it was a nice evening. :)

Time: 5:12pm
Weather: Cloudy, +19.4°C
Now playing: Aimee Mann - Momentum

3rd Aug 2004
THE GUEST PREMIERE OF POTTER 3
I was in Helsinki today. I had an invitation card for the guest premiere of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and took my father and sister with me (the card was for three persons).
The premiere was held in Bristol, which has seats for 601 persons.

I was disappointed in the way it was organized. The lounge was very small and over 500 people in front of the doors leading to the theatre hall, and they couldn't even set up a proper line! Everybody wanted to get in first! It was madness, really.

I spotted only few celebrities. Fredi and her daughter Hanna-Riikka Siitonen, Raakel Lignell with family and hmm... Oh yes, even our own prime minister Matti Vanhanen was there with his family. Didn't see translator Jaana Kapari, but on the other hand, I don't even know if she was there.

I didn't know Bristol has a balcony. We got our seats up there, and on the second row, which was very cool. Best seats.
When the audience had sat down, one guy (probably a manager of Finnkino or something) walked to the stage and welcomed us to the guest premiere and apologized that Finland got the movie only now. Then he wished us enjoying time, which we had.

The movie was as good as last time, but now it had subtitles. The translation could have been better. Pettigrew is translated wrongly and Trelawney and Snape have typos once.

And tomorrow I'll see the movie again in premiere in Helsinki with sister, father and cousins.

Time: 11:17pm
Weather: Starry sky, +18.5°C
Now playing: Melanie C - Melt

2nd Aug 2004
THE STRAWBERRY WEDDING
My second cousin Tiina got married last Saturday with a British guy called Stuart and their wedding was celebrated in Keuruu.
It's been a while since I've been in anybody's wedding. I can't even recall the year, or whose wedding it was. But I was just a little kid, who got bored during the speeches.
This time it was a bit different. Mostly because I'm matured a bit and for this being a bilingual ceremony. An international feeling.

In the church I, sister, and cousins performed a song called 'Enkelin rukous'. I played the grand piano, cousin Joanna played violin and the other girls sang.
I think my playing went very well. I don't remember doing any mistakes. Joanna's violin sounded beautiful in the church.

We also performed two songs in the restaurant of Hotel Keurusselkä later in the evening. The first one was The Corrs's instrumental 'Rebel Heart' and the second was our own song 'Every Day', which was dedicated to the bride and groom.
I must say that we did an absolutely wonderful performing there.

And overall the wedding was very enjoyable. Had fun.

I also built a mini-site of the photos from the wedding.

Tomorrow is the guest premiere of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Helsinki. Yes, I've got an invitation. :)
I will update a report of it tomorrow evening, then.

And today is Vuotis's 3rd birthday.

Time: 09:24pm
Weather: Cloudy, +20.3°C
Now playing: Sting & The Police - Every Breath You Take

28th Jul 2004
VUOTIS MENTIONED IN ILTALEHTI
Vuotava noidankattila, the HP forum where I'm one of the administrators, made it to the public today. Again.
This time it was about the disappointing case of not getting the tickets to the common screening of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, for the organizer spent all the ticket money he had received from Potter fans. A couple of thousands Euros.
The article is readable here, though it requires a registration.

For my luck, I hesitated and canceled my reservation to this common screening a day before the tickets went on sale. I bought my tickets myself. But not to the common screening, because it wasn't on the premiere day, as it should have been.

If there's going to be a common screening for Goblet of Fire (premieres in fall 2005), and I hope there is, I'm willing to be involved in organizing it.

One week left to the Finland's premiere of the third Potter film. Yep, I've seen it three times already in London, but I'm anxious to see it again. It is one of this year's best movies.

Time: 12:44pm
Weather: Raining heavily, +14.2°C
Now playing: Anastacia - Twisted Girl

27th Jul 2004
SAVONLINNA OPERA FESTIVAL 2004
I spent the last weekend with family and cousins' family in Savonlinna. We were there to experience some opera.

We arrived to the Olavinlinna Castle (the Opera Festival is held in there) at 6.30pm on Saturday evening and therefore we got 1½ hours left until the first opera started. So we wandered around the castle.

Olavinlinna Castle

We had tickets to two opears: Cavalleria rusticana and Pajatso. Both of them were small operas and they lasted only 1 hour 15 minutes each. And they were sung in Italian, but luckily there were the subtitle screen (produced by father's company), so we actually understood something.

I'm just wondering, how on earth it was possible to understand a word when there were no subtitle screens? Well, by knowing the story beforehand, I guess.

Our seats were in the middle of the audience and considerably the best ones.

I've never seen an opera before and I had absolutely no prejudices. I enjoyed both of them. The latter one more. But I wasn't fond of the set design. It was too modern and boring. Lame.

The music on the other hand was grand. Very enjoyable to listen to. There were even two harps in the orchestra.
And the choir. Cold shivers as they sang high and loud.

Before we got to the Savonlinna we were in our cottage in Hirvensalmi. There we had to do some practising for the wedding-to-come with sister and cousins.
Yep, we're performing three songs in our second cousin's wedding in Keuruu on Saturday.
More about that after the wedding.

And tomorrow, I think, Vuotis will be in the headlines again. This time in a bit negative way... More of that tomorrow.

Time: 7:58pm
Weather: Cloudy, +20.1°C
Now playing: Hans Zimmer - Hold the Ice (King Arthur OST)

13th Jul 2004
LAYOUT UPDATE
Yes, I'm easily bored with the layout, so I changed it again. The building on the right is not the Leaning Tower of Pisa, no. It's The Houses of Parliament, of course. A bit post-London-ish feeling.
This layout works properly only with the 1024x768 resolution, though. Sorry about that.

Let's see... Do I have anything else to say for the moment? Yep, I've got tickets to the third Potter film's Finland's premiere in August 4th. :)

Time: 02:17pm
Weather: Clear & sunny, +20.8°C
Now playing: Celine Dion - River Deep, Mountain High

8th Jul 2004
HARRY POTTER AND THE INCY WINCY SPIDER
I saw the premiere of Spider-Man 2 last night, and I definitely liked the film! It was way better than the first one. The action and great effects was just the side story here.

Oh, yes. I almost forgot. I was in London and came back already. Spent the days between 25th and 30th June there. I had the same hotel (and the same room!) as last time, and everything went well.
Well, if you don't count the Tube strike and the fact that I got sick on last evening. But, I saw Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban! Three times! And I loved the film, yes. If you want to read my review, head here (in Finnish). The review is for those already familiar with the plot.
Photos and more of the London later.

The title of sixth Potter book was revealed by J.K. Rowling last week. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is the book I'm waiting for the most. The name wasn't that good when I first heard it, but now it has been melting into my mind and I think it's okay. Can't wait to know more of the book.
I'm guessing the title's prince is turning out to be Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington.

Again I find myself planning a new layout for this site.
And I uploaded 4-Galleria already.

Time: 10:43am
Weather: Partly clouded, sunny, +15.3°C
Now playing: Melanie C - Last Night on Earth (barfly tour in York)

27th May 2004
THURSDAY NIGHT
Okay, okay. I changed the color of the links. Happy now? :P Yeah, it had to be done someday, and this day turned out to be that day.

Saw the preview of The Day After Tomorrow tonight and I liked the film. Great effects.

Time: 11:37pm
Weather: Clear & starry sky, +9.1°C
Now playing: Hanna Pakarinen - Fearless

15th May 2004
NIGHT OF FILMS
I spent last night watching movies in Tennispalatsi's Night of Films in Helsinki. Four movies were on my list: Lost in Translation, Duplex, Starsky & Hutch and Troy, even though Duplex was the only one I hadn't seen before. Lost in Translation still is the best film I've seen this year. No doubt of that.
In total I stayed 10 hours in the movie theatre. From 8.00pm to 6.00am. And I must say I had fun.
I love the atmosphere in movie theatres.

Time: 09:27am
Weather: Cloudy, +2.6°C
Now playing: Alanis Morissette - Everything

11th May 2004
LONDON ONCE AGAIN
My flight tickets to London and back arrived today. I'm leaving to London on 25th June and will be back in Finland on 30th June. Staying only five nights this time.

I'm planning to meet up with my cousin Joanna and spend the weekend with her. We're going to visit at least King's Cross, Convent Garden, Oxford Street, Hyde Park, Harrods and Leicester Square where we'll see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

I don't actually have any other plans for the rest of the days, but maybe I'll just wander around and get lost.

Read about my last London trip here.

Time: 11:11am
Weather: Cloudy, +3.7°C
Now playing: Dido - Life for Rent

1st May 2004
SPRING UPDATE
The "grey snow" layout has vanished and "in green" has replaced it. I'm pretty satisfied with this simple layout.

My civilian service is on a break at the moment due to the lack of a work place. Well, I'm optimistic about it. It'll work out. Maybe quite soon, actually.

I went to watch Kill Bill: Vol. 2 to its premiere in Helsinki last Friday and I loved the film. Though it bothers me that it still left few unanswered questions. But overall, Kill Bill is a wonderful movie.

I finally started taking saxophone lessons again a couple of weeks ago. The know-how was still in my head, I had just forgotten it, and the first lesson brought it back.

Should book my flight to London soon. Yep, I'm leaving for London again for some days in late June. I'm going to meet up with my cousin Joanna, who's on a language course in England in June & July. One thing we'll do for sure is to go and see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which doesn't come to Finland until August.

19th Mar 2004
CIV. SERVICE & SHANIA
My civilian service started last Monday. The first month (of the total of 13) is the educational part. It is spent in Lapinjärvi Educational Centre. Or, at least 15 days of the 28 days. 1/3 is behind now.
It's quite ok this far. No big irritabilities. No civilian service place either. Still searching. I'm going to send one application tomorrow to a place just recently occured to my mind. Funny that I haven't thought it before. Thumbs up.

Shania Twain had her first concert in Finland on Tuesday. I had bought my ticket 5 months ago and the night was worth waiting. She's awesome.
Though there were two disappointments: no cameras were allowed and she didn't sing "From This Moment On", which is one of my faves of her songs. But all in all the gig was excellent. Enjoyable.
I've been into her music since 1998, so all the cold shivers during the concert were expected.

13th Mar 2004
NO SUBJECT
Yesterday I met a great bunch of friends and translator Jaana Kapari, who kindly signed my fifth Potter book. I had fun.

Tonight I saw undoubtedly the best movie I've seen this year. Lost in Translation. It is wonderful.

12th Mar 2004
THE FIFTH POTTER
The fifth Harry Potter book was released today in Finnish. This feeling is kinda funny. I am re-feeling the last June hype, when the book was released in English.
I bought one of the first Harry Potter ja Feeniksin kilta books sold in Finland. Few bookshops opened especially for this book at 12.01am this morning, and I bought it right after midnight.
I'm heading to Helsinki later today to see friends and meet translator Jaana Kapari. More of that later.

Oh and yeah, there's a story about me and my friend Katja in this week's Seura (11/2004). It's about Potter, naturally.
And we were interviewed by the Etelä-Suomen Sanomat and Radio 99 today.

7th Mar 2004
FIVE STARS FOR HER SMILE
Updated my London page by making it a bit... well, better. And it made me long for back.
I also saw Something's Gotta Give tonight. It was an excellent romantic comedy. Diane Keaton's smile was something very wonderful.

6th Mar 2004
UPDATE & GOLDEN BOY OSCAR
Got bored with the layout of this site, so I changed it. A bit greyish, isn't it? But in a light way.
I also created a list of movies I've seen in theatres. It's under the Stuff section.

Oscars came and went. I watched it live, and enjoyed the gala very much. Billy Crystal is an excellent host.
It's hard for me to criticize wheter the Golden Statues went to the right films, as I haven't seen them all. But I guess they went. :)
Annie Lennox's performance was a bit disappointment (poor her), but the song was without a doubt the best of the nominees. Absolutely.
I love good entertainment (eh, who doesn't?), and that's what Oscars are. Yep.

I want to see the Oscar-winning Lost in Translation by Sofia Coppola.

5th Feb 2004
SAXOPHONE
It's February and the New Year Resolution is already fulfilled. Yep, I've got an alto saxophone now, after 7 years pause. It's a cute Yamaha YAS-275.

17th Jan 2004
IDOLS
So Finland has now an own Idol, Hanna Pakarinen. The right choice. She was definitely my favourite contestant.
I'm not going to admit that I voted for her over 20 times altogether. Or actually, yes I am going to admit it. Done.

I met her yesterday, by the way. The four Idols finalists (Hanna, Jani, Antti & Christian) were making a public appearance in Anttila Megastore in Tampere on Friday.
Of course I was there watching them. Had fun and got my Idols CD signed by all of them, and Hanna was sweet enough to sign my hand. :)

See more photos here.

1st Jan 2004
NEW YEAR
New year, new layout. Also updated Story and Stuff.

What to expect from year 2004?
A job, for sure. Well, it's a civilian service job, but still.
Shania Twain's concert in Helsinki in March and HP & Prisoner of Azkaban movie will face it's release in summer.
Yep, that's pretty much all I can say about this year.

Not going to make any New Year Resolutions.
Edited later: Well okay, one resolution. I'll try to save enough money to buy myself an alto saxophone.

Newer & older happenings in my life:
[2006] [2005] [2004] [2003]

Ulkoasu & sisältö © Ilkka Siitari 2006